OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla., May 11, 2018 – On the first day of the 2018 U.S. Men’s Junior Olympic National Championships, May 10-13, at the Cox Business Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., Region 1 won the Junior Elite Regional Team title, with Cypress Academy of Gymnastics, based in Cypress, Texas, taking top honors for the Level 10 Club Team. The championships for Levels 8, 9 and 10, plus Junior Elite, continues today through Sunday, with competition in the all-around and individual events.

After one of two days of competition, here are the age-group leaders in the Level 10 all-around standings.

In the Junior Elite Regional Team competition, Region 1 (Arizona, Hawaii, California, Nevada) easily earned the title with a 254.150 total. Region 3 (Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas) took second at 251.600, followed by Region 7 (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia) at 246.300. Cypress tallied an impressive 249.500 to take the Level 10 Club Team title. 5280 Gymnastics North, based in Denver, Colo., was second (251.60), and Wallers’ GymJam Academy in Santa Clarita, Calif., rounded out the top three (246.300).

The levels are determined by age and skill level. Level 8 consists of athletes who are 11 and 12 years old; Level 9 athletes are 13 and 14 years old. At Level 10, there are two age divisions, 15-16 year olds and 17-18 year olds. Each level has two divisions – Junior Elite and Junior Olympic.

For Level 10 athletes competing in the Junior Elite Division, the Junior Olympic National Championships is a qualifier for the 2018 U.S. Gymnastics Championships (Aug. 16-18 in Boston, Mass.), where the Level 10 Junior National Team will be determined. Fourteen Level 8 and Level 9 gymnasts from the Junior Elite Division will be named to the Level 8/9 Junior National Team at the conclusion of the Junior Olympic championships.

Athletes can qualify to finals in the Junior Olympic Division one of two ways. For each Junior Olympic age division, they must be in the top six from prelims on an individual event or in the top 36 in the all-around. The combined score from the preliminary session and the final session will determine the all-around and individual event final rankings.

The meet coordinator is Ben Fox and Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy is the host club.

To advance to the Junior Olympic National Championships, gymnasts competed in state and regional championships and qualified based on their all-around ranking or individual event placement.

The U.S. Junior Olympic National Championships is one of the national championships of USA Gymnastics, the sport’s national governing body in the United States. Many Junior Olympic champions have gone on to make the U.S. National Team and represent the United States in international competition and/or to compete in collegiate gymnastics. All of the members of the men’s medal-winning 2004 (silver) and 2008 (bronze) U.S. Olympic Teams, as well as the 2012 Olympic Team, are former Junior Olympic National Championships participants. Past participants include 2004 Olympic all-around champion Paul Hamm; Olympic and World medalists Jonathan Horton, Danell Leyva and Alex Naddour; and World medalists Jake Dalton, Yul Moldauer and John Orozco.